A Light in my Darkness
by SayuriNozomi
Summary: Despite being blind, Tiara's an excellent bounty hunter. Her special ability of hearing thoughts and feeling the emotions of others has helped her survive. However, when she meets Kakuzu her world is tilting. How could their connection be so intense although the barely knew each other? KakuzuXTiara (OC) Lovestory with action and two Junkies Hope you enjoy!
1. Prolog

**Name: **Tiara

**Age: **23

**Appearance:** dark violet, long hair; dark blue eyes, is however blind

**Abilities:** Tai- and Ninjutsu sufficient, better at recognizing and releasing of Genjutsus, excellent usage of throwing weapons (Shuriken-Jutsus etc.)

**Kekkai Genkai:** Mind-Reading, sensing the emotions of people (always active)

Slowly, she walked through the night. Her long, dark violet hair almost seemed black due to the missing light of the moon. She loved new moon nights. Other people couldn't bear the thought of walking through complete darkness. It was probably their sub conscious which kept them from doing so. The others… but not her. In her world, there was nothing but darkness. New moon nights were to her like an acknowledgment granted by mother earth to show other people what her everyday world looked like for once. While taking a deep breath, she noticed something strange. There, in the midst of the deep, dark forest sat somebody. Somebody? Or rather something? She couldn't tell. There were no thoughts or emotions radiating from him like they would from everybody else. She would have already felt or heard that. Only her sixth sense told her, that something had to be there. "Weird… Even animals have some sort of needs or subconscious feelings. Her steps became more and more hesitant before she stopped eventually to survey the situation from a safe spot. A few minutes later, she decided to approach since the something or someone hadn't moved yet. She was way too curious to just leave now. The closer she came, the clearer her senses identified the something as a person. The fact that he had been able to hide his feelings and thoughts so well up until now irritated her. Now, however, that she was only a few steps away from him, a huge wave of emotions and lines of thoughts rushed towards her. The force of the wave, crushing upon her, almost swept her off her feet. For a few seconds, she couldn't breathe. She felt the pain. A pain, so deep and so old, she had only known it from herself. Grief and hatred accompanied dozens of his memories, which were now running through her body. Afterwards, she would ask herself how old that person must have been, considering the amount of memories she lived through. And suddenly, it was there. The solitude. Without any warning. The feeling of having been abandoned by the whole world and having no one. At some point, she could no longer differentiate between her own feelings and the other ones. Her legs wouldn't carry her weight anymore and she landed on her knees. Her hands clenched over her heart. Never before had the emotions of a stranger been so intensive. Far away, she could hear herself ask: "Who are you?" Her voice seemed to tremble and sounded somehow piteous but luckily she only realized that afterwards. Suddenly, at one go, the incoming memories and emotions disappeared, leaving only a painful hollowness in her heart. For the length of a heartbeat, she knew she was being stared at by the other person. Then, the stranger disappeared. Dazed, the young woman stayed for a few more minutes on the clearing. As she had calmed down, she got up and got back on her way. She decided to forget about the incident. The intensity had probably been due to the fact that she herself had been in thoughts and memories at the time she met him. 'Come on, Tiara! The work isn't going to get done by itself. Let's get to the destination. Bounty, I am on my way!' She tried to cheer herself up.


	2. Chapter 1

~~A few months later~~

As always, she stuck to precision and quickness. 'One senbon should be enough.' The wanted person had no time to realize what happened to him. Death had him, the moment the poisoned senbon hit him. 'Quick and precise', she thought satisfied. She removed the senbon from the corpse, cleaned and put it back into her pockets. Without hesitating, she pulled out a scroll and sealed the corpse in it. Although, she wasn't too weak to carry a corpse, she didn't like the thought of carrying a corpse over her shoulder for the whole day. And after all, she didn't have to provoke being attacked by her rivals. The corpse would be as clear as a sign: 'Please, take my collected bounty!' A few hours later, she happily recognized the energy pattern of the inconspicuous office of the bounty-hunter guild. She had to admit that the office in Amegakure was really well chosen. When she overheard people describing it, the wood façade had an absolute harmless impression on civilians. Above the entrance of the small tea shop stood in a baroque signs "Peace of Heaven". 'What macabre irony, the peace of heaven…' Tiara thought as always when approaching the office. Since she didn't want to stand outside in the never ending rain for a second longer, she opened the slightly creaky door and entered the tea store. Silently, she nodded at the old lady behind the counter and quickly walked through the room. Of course, the lady did know of the secret office. 'She will probably die soon anyway…' The certainty came to her as she felt the exhaustion and the slower getting thoughts of the old lady. Without wasting time, she moved one of the tea pots and immediately the hidden door opened and led her into the corpse office.

Not even half an hour later, she stepped outside, back into the rain. The young woman had given up on protection from the cold moistness. There was no way to stop it from creeping into every bit of clothing. Accepting was the only way to get over it. Although her corpse had been nothing more than a small spy, the exchanger had given her a fair amount and a bonus on top because the corpse had been in a very good shape. Unlike others, who brought their corpses in little bits and pieces to the office. While wondering who would even accept a single arm and exchange it for the bounty, the thoughts and emotions of the people around swept over her, without really touching her though. There and now she picked up some interesting things. Suddenly, she was hit by a giant load of lust to kill. Abruptly, she stopped and looked for the source. The thoughts of the civilians described two masked figures, walking a few meters in front of her. The lust to kill seemed to radiate from the bigger one of the two. She quickly decided that it would be best for her to blend out his bloody thoughts. Although she was blind and her eyes of no use, she was able to perceive her surroundings by the lines of thoughts of the people. It allowed her to create a map and an image before her inner eye. Her attention, however, belonged to the other guy now. No matter how much she concentrated on him… nothing. There was nothing. Only infinite emptiness. While she already knew about the appearance of the big guy with the disgusting thoughts, there was nothing to say about the figure or the look of the other man. And of course even less about his abilities. Except that he had to be very strong, since he was able to completely hide his thoughts and emotions from her. Irritated by her own weakness, she paid closer attention to the big guy, who apparently was called Hidan, and began to extract the more important information from the bloody massacres in his head. He seemed… upset was an understatement but still appropriate. It was followed by a long series of curses. Tiara feared that it would never end. Only now did she notice that the two guys were approaching her. While she had stopped, surprised by the lust to kill, the men had kept walking. In order to not seem suspicious, she pulled out a piece of paper and pretended to be very busy writing something down. Inside, she couldn't stop grinning. 'If only they knew that the paper is nothing but camouflage and that I can't even see it.' As her eyes were dark blue since her birth and had not turned white like the eyes of blind people usually did, most people didn't notice her weakness. And she preferred to keep it that way. The less people knew about it the better.

Suddenly, she and the two men were on the same line. And there it was. A slight pull reached her sixth sense. That had to be the only trace of thoughts or emotions- probably less of the last one- of the second man. She reopened her mind to that guy, Hidan: 'Oh f***, damn sh***, I don't wanna spend one more second with that a**h*** Kakuzu! That money-grubbing, old son of a b**** is dragging me to one of those disgusting corpse offices to bring them one of his m*****f****** corpses! So that he can get his damn money!' She had heard enough. Kakuzu it was then… And apparently, he also was a bounty-hunter. While the two of them strode away, the tingle in her body lost intensity and eventually disappeared completely. At least, she had been able to feel a little bit of his thoughts, although she wasn't able to 'listen' to them. She never read the thoughts of people actively. For her it was normality that she 'heard' them. Because of her blindness it was essential to her. She learned very quickly that she could not always listen to all thoughts and mostly did not want to know everything. Sighing, she put the paper back into her pocket and went on. Her mind focused on the list of bounties which the attendant at the office was so friendly to read out to her. His name was Daichi and unlike with most people, she actually got along well with him. He didn't talk too much and always came to the point right away. Also, he was one of the few people that knew about her blindness. Instead of reading the list out loud, he trusted her to a point where he would go through the list in his mind, leaving it up to her to filter out the important information. Since she was sick of the eternal rain in Amegakure anyway, she chose a bounty in Takigakure. Before departing, she refilled her supplies and closely checked her stack of weapons. The two strange men were quickly forgotten as the anticipation rose. Finally, she could visit her home again. Not wanting to waste any more time, she hit the road with a smile on her face. After all, the love for her family was almost the only feeling she allowed herself. The rest of the world didn't really bother her jack squat.

With the speed of a cheetah, she ran through the forest. Each contact with the ground allowed her senses to construct her surroundings before her inner eye. That was the only way to avoid running right into one tree after another. It had been a long time since she last visited her parents. The relation to her family was… well… let's go with complicated. Back then, she had been more or less kidnapped by an organization, forcing her to leave her home. Her parents were left to believe that she had died in a tragic accident, which was to keep them from searching for her. Eight years had passed since then. Eight long years. It hadn't even taken her a few days to understand that the special unit she had been assigned to was so not her case. Mostly, their missions consisted of assassinations which were non-essential, imprecise and needlessly brutal. She preferred a clean and quick work that wouldn't leave a huge mess behind. However, it took her two years to get rid of their leash on her. The cost had been high but at least they didn't bother her anymore. As she had been riding solo again and master of her own actions, she had then and again paid her family a visit, enjoying their simple worries while doing garden work or while shopping in the city. Sometimes, she used the time to check in on her brother's training. Like her, his hair was dark violet. His eyes, however, were from their dad. 'Such nice pieces of chocolate' she used to call them as a kid. All that was long ago. Before she had completely lost her vision… She decided to visit her parents first. As always, she chose a safe tree close to the clearing and focused with her whole being on her surrounding to have a clear image of what it looked like. She recognized her parents, who were relaxing on the balcony, enjoying the warm sun. While her father seemed to read the newspaper (concluding from his thoughts), her mother devoted her time to art. Tiara couldn't hide a smile when she picked up some of her mother's stray thoughts: 'Oh, I guess my top needed some more paint anyway, aye? I will just leave it for now. Let's see the ocean there needs some more azure and here…' Back then, they had used to paint together quite often. Her attention turned away from her parents and wandered to the third in the family. Somebody seemed to chop wood. 'That has to be Takeo' Tiara thought. She examined his energy pattern, in case he had been injured in any late fights. With an uneasy feeling, she noticed the changes. Not only had he grown up but his chackra flow seemed unregulated and disrupted. She hesitated before listening closer to his thoughts. 'Good, those two don't have a clue about anything at all. If they find out about it, I will have to kill them, too. Well, the last murder actually was an accident. Too bad for the little girl. Out of all things, she had to interrupt me during the bloody part of my work.' Tiara had a hard time believing what she heard. Her usually caring and calm brother had murdered?! And if their parents ever found out about it, he would kill them, too?! What the hell had happened to him? In her dark world, he had always been a spark of light. And now? Now, that she was living in a world of total darkness… Had she taken him down with her? Anxious, she actively searched through his memories. The result left her agitated for a few minutes. It really was her fault. Her fake death had dumped her parents into deep despair. For months, they had not been talking to anybody and even neglected their little son. He, too, would have needed somebody to care for him, explained the situation and comforted him, not leaving him alone like his big sister had. The isolation and the grief scarred and were replaced by hatred and violence. That was the point where he became interesting for the very same organization that had taken her away in the first place, which he of course was not aware of. How could she not have noticed this?! And then, he had begun to murder. At first, it was more or less righteous murders. Child abusers, murderers, thieves. But soon, he didn't care anymore and went on killing innocent people, young women that resembled Tiara in height and figure. Didn't he see that he was only a tool?! Angry, she bit her lip to not yell out her fury. Suddenly her eyes widened. The pictures of his victims came to her mind and raised an alarm bell somewhere. Strained, she went through her memories to look for references. Then, comprehension hit her. Her bounty. He was… her bounty. His murders were identical to the pictures Daichi had shown her. Her bounty… She was hunting her own brother…

While she thought of a way to ensure that it was really him, two more players entered the field. Two tall grown men stepped out of the forest and straight towards her family house. As she concentrated fully on her search for matching data, she did not notice the two upcoming rivals. Only when she felt anxiety rising in Takeo, her senses spread. Confused, she also noticed that Takeo definitely saw two enemies approaching, but she could only feel one of them while the other one was merely a hazy tingle. Suddenly she understood. The lust to kill and the slight tingle were the trigger. Apparently, she was dealing with Kakuzu and Hidan. After the awkward situation in Amegakure, Tiara had done some research. The result: both of them were members of Akatsuki and were known as the 'Zombie-Duo'. Hidan, devoted Jashinist (which explained his lust to kill), was thanks to his religion immortal. Since he just loved to hear himself talk, there was a lot of data about him. Well… not enough about his strange abilities or jutsus but at least something. Kakuzu, on the other hand, was like a blank page of paper. It was said that he seemed to be kind of immortal, too. His abilities, however, were completely unknown. Tiara knew one thing for sure, though. Since Kakuzu was known as one of the most fearsome bounty-hunters, he wouldn't be here accidentally. They seemed to have the same target. Her brother, Takeo. 'That makes the search for matching data irrelevant. He really is my bounty, then…' She thought. She had no pity to spend on him. Not only had he shown a weak mind but he had also murdered innocent girls! She would not help him. No, he was her bounty no matter what obstacle would come in between.

Jumping out of her hiding spot, she took out special senbons, dipped in poison. The men hadn't started to fight yet but, considering their thoughts and the conversation, it could only be by a matter of seconds. Without really thinking about the consequences (after all she would be the absolute minority in a moment), she threw two small smoke-bombs. Not a second later, she let the senbons follow. Contently, she felt their impact on Hidan's and Takeo's body. Unfortunately, she didn't only have to listen to Hidan's curses in her mind but now even through her ears. He really knew how to strain one's patience… Despite her effort, to locate Kakuzu, he was able to hide his thoughts and feelings so well, making him practically invisible for her. Sharpening her senses to the max, she concentrated on her surroundings. There! A draft right behind her! On the right side! No matter how much she tried to predict his next move, he was always a heartbeat ahead. Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet opened and a hand grabbed her right ankle. Trying to free herself, she struggled and fell. Now it was her, cursing out loud. It irritated her that he was able to breach her defense that easily. Instinctively, a kunai had come to her hand and she stabbed the hand. The grip around her ankle untightened for a mere moment. Promptly, she pushed herself up and jumped as far away from the hand as possible. The second, she straightened her legs she already felt the jerk going through her left foot. A yelp escaped her lips as her ankle popped out. All at once, thoughts and memories of somebody else twitched through her body. It had to be Kakuzu's. Her landing was not really elegant. Since she couldn't cushion her fall (it wasn't really a jump anymore), she hit the ground with full impact. Moving was almost impossible now. Painfully, she pulled herself as far away from Kakuzu's energy pattern as possible, hoping to be out of his reach. She pulled out two more senbons and threw them into the direction she suspected Kakuzu. Although she felt at least one of them hitting its target, she also knew that one single senbon would certainly not stop him. Takeo and Hidan had fallen onto their knees. Her senbons were tipped in one of the fastest affecting poisons of the world. Some of Kakuzu's thoughts entered her mind. She didn't understand why she could hear him now, of all things, and not before. 'What is happening here? Who is that girl? And most importantly, what does she want? Dammit, the poison of those senbons affects even me faster than I had expected. Best thing will be to leave, right away and come back at some other time. The boy won't run away. And the girl, in her current state, won't leave here anymore either. What's up with that weird look on her face?' Tiara couldn't help snorting irritated. 'That look on my face?! I don't look at all, ass! Sometimes, it would be a lot easier to have eyes that actually see something…' Due to her former habit, she skillfully rolled her eyes. Immediately, she sensed a very annoyed tingle coming from Kakuzu's direction. Again, she listened more closely. 'Who does she think she is anyway? Messing up my mission. Perhaps, it would be best if I just quickly caught my bounty now, leave Hidan here to play with her and the problem would be solved.' This time, Tiara couldn't stop a sharp remark: "Hey, over there! This is my bounty, alright? Nobody is leaving with my bounty! Best thing would be if you and your friend over there would just fuck off!" Amusement rose in him. "You shouldn't be talking so big, little one. Perhaps you should just go back to your mum and help her with the chores. Oh no, wait, I forgot. You cannot walk anymore." Tiara growled at him. "Don't you dare to involve my parents!" "Takeo? Takeo, what is happening?" Speaking of the devil… Startled, Tiara directed her senses at her mother, who seemed to be looking down from the balcony. "Oh my, what did happen here? I didn't know that you would have visitors today, my dear. You should really talk to me more about those things." She softly reproved him. It hurt Tiara deep down to feel her mother's innocence and naivety. What if she found out about the betrayal of her own son? What if she found out, that her missing daughter was about to kill her own brother? Would that change something about her innocence? No… it wouldn't… Sadness gripped Tiara's heart. How could she have left her mother without any protection? Why couldn't her brother take care of the two? Why had everything, that was about to happen now, to be her fault and hers only? Takeo's thoughts were, against her expectation, totally calm. 'Now, I will have to kill them after all. What a shame… From now on, I will have to cook my own dinners.' Tiara wasn't able to fully realize just how cold-blooded and emotionless her brother really was. Suddenly, she felt a light draft. It was all thanks to her well-trained senses that she was able to react just in time. Ignoring the pain, her body moved automatically between the attacker and her mother. It took the young woman a split second, to understand that the blood splattering around was neither her own nor her mothers. While still trying to sort through the now chaotic thoughts of her enemy, she dodged another attack aimed at herself. 'How is this even possible? Why isn't she dead? Didn't she die in the accident back then? This is impossible!' Takeo! She heard him coughing roughly and more of the warm liquid sprinkled on her face. He knew that he was going to die. Without even an ounce of hesitation, her hand had pushed the kunai all the way through the heart of her sudden attacker.

She heard the sobbing of her mother. "No! Please! Stop it! Takeo, you cannot die!" Tiara was being pushed aside and once again made rough contact with the ground, as her ankle couldn't carry her weight anymore. Her mind was searching for the presence of her father but apparently he had gone down to the basement, looking for something. She heard Takeo's body sinking to the floor and felt her mother caressing him gently. The pain and grief about the death of her beloved son, that her mother felt, was more Tiara could bear. Although she wished to be far, far away, her body didn't move one bit. Not until Kakuzu approached, was she awakened from her rigor. With a blink, he appeared beside her mother. 'Very nice, I won't even have to dirty my hands.' He thought when reaching for the still warm corpse. At lightning speed, she took out a script and sealed the body. With a quiet *puff* the corpse disappeared. She felt the horror of her mother. "No, you cannot do that! Give me back my son! Who are you anyway?! I want him back! You have no right! He didn't harm anybody!" Sobbing interrupted her devastated speech. Quickly, Tiara let the script slide into her bag and turned to jump from the balcony. She hadn't expected Kakuzu to reach for her again. His hand painfully closed around her throat. Jerking her back, he brutally shoved her against the wall of the house. Her mother staggered back a few steps and ran into the house, right into her husband, who had been alarmed by her crying. Tiara had to force herself to concentrate on her own dilemma. "Hand over the script." Kakuzu said with an unmistakable threat. She gasped as he increased the pressure on her vulnerable neck. Again, she only growled. Needless to say, that she neither had the air to actually talk nor the space to move her head. Hoping to steadily return his look, she tried to stare at his eyes, which she could feel staring back at her but not see. 'Interesting eyes… I wonder where she is staring at.' Tiara cursed inside. Apparently, her eyes had that absent look in them. 'Doesn't matter, I want my corpse.' "I don't like to repeat myself, little one. Hand over the corpse and you shall go your way." Involuntarily, her hands wandered to his, clenching over them in the miserable try to free herself. Suddenly, a few thousand memories shot through her, all at once. She didn't even get the opportunity to get a closer look so fast did the pictures, emotions and other impressions pass by. Overwhelmed, by the sheer load she panted for air, in vain. Her hands clenched for a few heartbeats longer before letting go and eventually sliding down to her side. As soon as her hands had released their grip on his, he rapidly pulled back his arm. Incomprehension and confusion marked his mind. His look became more suspicious and she sensed how he strengthened the walls around his mind a little more. All those impressions made her abilities to process go to their limits. Her hands went up to her temples, slightly applying pressure to ease the upcoming headache. Not really effective, as she notice quickly. She sank down to the ground. Due to the fact that her senses were still kind of numb, she first noticed the approaching hand when it had already grabbed her arm and dragged her away. Far away, she heard the lamentation of her mother and her father's comforting words; then the loudly swearing Hidan and now and then a quiet snort from Kakuzu. Neither did she feel that they were moving, nor what was happening around her. The only thing she was aware of was the approaching darkness, which soon would have taken her in completely. Then, she fell.


	3. Chapter 2

'What in the world was Hidan thinking? Then again, he probably can't think anyway… What a waste of time to drag along the girl. Because of this dick-driven bastard, we'll most likely be late for the next appointment.' He examined the young woman, who had been dangling lifelessly over Hidan's shoulder for almost a day now. 'Well, we do have the script with the corpse now but that is about the only advantage… She will have to unseal it herself anyway.' The thought of profit persuaded him eventually and he ignored the circumstances. It would probably be best if she wouldn't wake up until they reached the exchanging office. In the corner of the eye, he registered a small movement. Without any trouble, he avoided the poisoned senbon which instead hit the tree behind him. Sighing, he turned around to Hidan, who was currently staring with an open mouth at the Kunai in his chest. Annoyed, Kakuzu closed his eyes as Hidan began to let out his outrage. "Hey bi***! What the hell?! You think this doesn't hurt? How about I stab you with a frigging Kunai in your chest?! This fu***** cloak was new! Now, I will have to borrow some from that money-loving piece of crap over there to get a new one! F*** man, this shit sucks!" While Hidan still went on with his tirade, he had let go of the woman, who had somehow managed to land, quite inelegantly however, probably to not strain her ankle too much, yet. Kakuzu smirked beneath his mask. 'Well, sometimes a dislocated joint can be more painful than a small wound.'

Confused, Tiara first of all tried to calm down her senses and to sharpen them for her surroundings. Every so small sound irritated her. Eventually, she tried to blend out Hidan's nagging and concentrate on Kakuzu's location. She was well aware that the gravest mistake at the moment would be to turn her back on him. Her head jerked downwards instinctively and his hand missed her hair by a split second. 'Is he trying to decapitate me with his bare hands, or what?' She asked herself fairly shocked. For a few moments, they were engaged in a rather short hand-to-hand-combat. However, without her fully sharpened senses she was no match for him. He caught her hands and pressed them behind her back. When her bones were about to break, he stopped. "Alright, little one, we are going to play a different game now. You are going to accompany us to the next office, where you open the script with the corpse and I can get my bounty. Then, we will finally go separate ways, you understand me?" She spat on the ground next to him. "Who do you think I am, hm? Do you really think I will simply hand my bounty over to you? Do I look like that?" Her voice was sneering. Her next reply froze on her lips as she felt the wave of emotions rolling towards her. "Let me go, now!" Surprisingly, he really did. Actually, he even pushed her away. Stumbling, she put some distance between her and him before turning around to look at him. "Why…?" She didn't finish the question. It seemed… inadequate… too personal… It was hard to put it in words. "What are you?" The question came out neutrally out of his mouth and she almost missed the insult. "Ok, first of all, I am human so the correct question would not have been 'what' but 'who are you'. Secondly, I hardly doubt your actual interest in my identity. What you want to know is why at every direct contact with me you feel this… this… wave of emotions, right?" She replied. "Emotions?! That guy and emotions? Sorry, sweety, but you are totally wrong there. Last time he had any sign of emotions might have been about 50 years ago or so." Hidan interrupted. "Shut up, Hidan. Keep out of this." It obviously took Hidan a lot of effort to hold back his reply. Instead, he went back to nagging to himself. Anticipatory, Kakuzu examined the young woman once again. "Actually, your name might be interesting. Maybe you are on the black list, too, when I exchange you at the office." Involuntarily, a grin appeared on her face. In some aspects, they were so much alike. Work first, then private. "Tiara, but unfortunately, you won't have any luck with me. My bounty isn't public." The bounty-hunter wrinkled his nose. 'Too bad.' Relieved, Tiara noticed that her senses had regained their sharpness. Suddenly, she had an idea, kind of like vague memory. "I want to try something. But it will only work if you join in." Distrust flickered in his mind. She could imagine how his eyes turned to slits. "What are you thinking of?" "I want you to put your hand in mine. Out of free will and with a calm mind." Behind them, Hidan burst out in laughter. "Right, and the result would be? Why would I give you my hand, knowing that you just love to see me dead?" She shook her head, mockingly disappointed. "Seriously? Do you really think I would lower myself to a level like that? Certainly not. But if you still fear for your life, how about Hidan puts his scythe to my neck while I take your hand?" Immediately, Hidan stepped up behind her, uncalled, and was tempted to put his hands on all kind of places of her body. Kakuzu's unusual behavior, however, was the reason he dutifully put his scythe to her neck. Tiara was aware that the bounty-hunter hesitated when reaching for her hand. She also knew it wasn't fear that held him back but simply the fact that he didn't like not knowing what she was up to. A habit she knew too well herself. There were few things she hated more than not knowing what somebody was up to and thus not knowing how to assess the situation. Carefully, she reached out for his hand. Her hand was surprisingly cold on his skin. A fact that astonished Kakuzu as there were quite few people colder than him. He felt how his usually well-suppressed emotions and memories started to come up and gain intensity. Stepping a little closer to him, Tiara automatically put her hand softly on his cheek. The touch made him flinch. 'What was that?' The thought pounded angrily through his head. Quickly, she pulled her hand back. "I am sorry." She mumbled. 'What? Why sorry? What is she doing? Why do I lose my control whenever she touches me?' "If only I knew the answer to that…" She whispered, more to herself than anybody else. "If only you knew what?" Kakuzu demanded. "Wait…" She replied dryly. It took almost all of her concentration to ready herself for the approaching wave of pent-up emotions and unspoken thoughts. While bracing herself mentally, her fingers clutched his hand a little tighter. This time, however, the sheer power didn't throw her off balance but instead bounced against her prepared defense. Furthermore, it wasn't a crushing, huge wave, but more controlled and a lot calmer. The thoughts swept by her, the emotions touched her once in a while. Despite all the preparation, the intensive solitude and mainly the deeply enrooted pain made her anxious. She let everything pass her before lowering her hands to give him some room. Astonishment and a new kind of calm (more like the well-rested kind) radiated from him. "What the… What happened?" Relieved, she exhaled. His coolness calmed her. "You were able to let go of your pent-up feelings and your unspoken thoughts. You shared them and now you feel freer, right?" Immediately, the distrust came back to his eyes. "Shared?" Now, she had to think fast. "Got rid of them. Burden-sharing kind of thing. You don't have to keep shoving them down your throat. Figuratively spoken." As it happens, Kakuzu really did enjoy an unusual, strong inner peace. A rare calmness had engaged him the moment she touched him. Now that she had let go of his hand the peace had already begun to fade away. Without losing another word, the tall-grown man turned around and left. "Hey, Kakuzu! Wait up, you ass! Kakuzu!" Hidan yelled out. Involuntarily, Tiara's legs started moving as well, following the two men. In silence, the three walked next to each other. Even Hidan could feel a certain tension and decided, of course only for his own sake, to not pour any more oil into the barrel. A few hours later, the Jashinist left his group to grab some victims and perform a ritual. Although, he had not expected an answer to begin with, he was a little insulted that none of the two even showed the smallest reaction to him leaving. With Hidan gone, the tension rose but still no one broke the silence. 'Why did I follow them? What am I thinking?' She had no clue what she hoped to achieve. What she did want to know though was what was up with her and Kakuzu's strange connection. Her senses kept examining Kakuzu secretly, as if he was able to notice her looking at him. The masked man was totally absorbed in his thoughts. By now, the inner peace had disappeared completely and thus made room for the usual annoy. Even more concerning was the solitude. He was used to a certain amount of loneliness but after her touch it seemed to be even stronger than normal. And that irritated him tremendously. By ignoring her, he hoped to reset everything to the time before their first contact and before he had ever felt this relief and ease. Without having said a word, the arrived at the exchanging office. Since Kakuzu apparently had no intention of entering the office, she followed the energy patterns on the ground and opened the secret door. It was cold inside. Immediately, goose bumps ran down her spine and she hoped to be back outside in no time. Since Kakuzu had shut himself off completely from her and they hadn't come across anybody else on their way here, she had no idea where they were at all. A sickish feeling controlled her stomach. The only possibility to move inside these rooms was using her tactile sense and focus on the very inaccurate and thin energy lines on the ground. It took her quite a while to find the mortuary. A threatening presence welcomed her. Even without her sixth sense she would have felt his contempt towards her a few miles from here. Apparently, her blindness was a proof of absolute weakness from his point of view. Her thoughts, however, were still with Kakuzu so she couldn't care less about his attitude. On her way back outside, she decided something very unusual. Stepping into the sunlight, she handed Kakuzu the case. "Fifty-fifty" She said. No matter how well-trained her sixth sense might be, counting money certainly wasn't one of her abilities. "Why should I really give half to you? I could just take the whole case now and leave you here with nothing." Smiling, she shook her head. "No, no, no, dear." Her voice was bittersweet. "It ain't that easy. Should you decide to just run, it will only be a matter of seconds until a bomb is activated, blowing you up into little bits and pieces of meat." "So why not count the money yourself? Why gamble that I could take more than half?" "You might love money more than others but you still are an honest person. You would not cheat trades like this." Putting down the case, she inconspicuously fumbled for the lock. When she was alone, it never occurred to her. But now, having someone standing next to her, she was ashamed how obvious her blindness was in fact. On the inside, she prayed that he wouldn't notice. Finally, she pushed the case over to him. It was impossible for her to assess his thoughts when he had shut himself off this far. "Ah… At least somebody who knows his stuff. The guy made 100-rolls. That does make the counting easier." Air brushed by her face. Instinctively, her hand shot up to stop the unknown object right before her eyes. "What was that about?" She asked suspiciously while her hand gripped his wrist tight. Strained, she kept the incoming emotions at bay. "I knew it." Tiara frowned. "What?" "You are blind." The objectivity with which those words were said hurt her. It took her a second to get herself back together. "What are you talking about? Do my eyes seem white to you? You are aware that this was certainly not a compliment, right?" Suddenly, she felt his hand on her cheek. Carefully, his thumb stroke beneath her eye. "True. Your eyes are very interesting." "This is not the first time you said this." Confused, he asked: "What? No, I didn't. Why would I have said something like that?" Inside, she hit herself with a very hard object. 'You idiot! How is he supposed to know that you are able to read thoughts!' "I didn't mean that…" She tried to wriggle out of the situation safely. 'Yes, it was! What was she talking about? I am sure that I never mentioned it. Could it be that she is actually able to read thoughts? How can she move so easily and throw her weapons with such certainty if she cannot see?' Tiara sighed. "I am able to hear thoughts. Thanks to my sixth sense I can create a picture before my inner eye by using energy patterns, thoughts and emotions from people around me. That is how I am able to find my way around." 'Why am I telling him this anyway? Probably, because it feels ok… And why does it feel ok? No idea…' Again she sighed. This man was strange. Even now, his reaction was different from what she had expected. He seemed to stare at her which put her in a very uncomfortable position. "Could you at least say something like every other normal human instead of just sitting there and staring at me?" "How do you know now that I am staring at you? I could look at the building behind you." Shaking her head, she replied hardly: "Don't play dumb. You, too, know when somebody is staring at you, right?" "Yes, but I usually see the people before they see me and even have the chance to stare at me. So I don't know." "But you are aware of your surroundings, right? Involuntarily, your body reacts to the smallest impulse. For example… when a branch creaks or when a leaf moves although there is no wind. Those are the things, all people notice casually. I just have to focus a lot more on these impulses and use all of my senses at once. I bet that you didn't notice the rabbit, jumping through the grass 20 meter behind you. Instead, you would have noticed it about…" She waited and then pointed at a place behind Kakuzu. "… now that it came out of the bush and enters your field of vision." Thoughtfully, her eyes were fixed on the point where she felt the rabbit. "Unfortunately, I cannot tell you its color nor its exact size… Things like that are only for the sighted people…" Her voice had become very quiet. "How come you are so skilled with your throwing knives and senbons, then?" "Instinct and the energy patterns are the only indication I have. With people like Hidan or Takeo it's rather easy: I locate their thoughts, consider the energy patterns of the earth and thus am able to deduce where they stand, how tall they probably are and a hazy image of what they look like. It's harder with animals because they don't think actively, meaning I have to rely completely on my senses. And then, there are the ones like you." Tiara didn't want to go on about her daily survival. She had already told him way too much and way too detailed anyway. "People like me?" Kakuzu dug deeper. "Yes? Go on." "Why are you even interested? This is actually none of your business." Tiara replied. "Should you enter Akatuski, it definitely will be my business." He answered, trying to seem bored. For a moment, she lost her cool façade. "What? Why would I enter Akatsuki? What would I want there? How did you even come up with such a stupid idea?" "This is no idea but has already been decided. And before you ask: No, you do not have a say in this." "Oooooooh I do, dear one! If you really think I would just let myself be dragged along by you, you are so wrong! So wrong! No, not like this and not with me!" Grabbing a few of the money rolls, she turned and walked away. 'Just like he was yesterday' She thought. "You know, with Akatsuki your rate of bounties will increase in no time." Stop. Although she didn't turn around, Kakuzu could imagine her pondering expression. "And by the way, you took less than half of your bounty." He added shrugging. He liked her. For the first time in forever, he had found somebody who might be on the same length as he. However, he would never admit that he wished she would touch him one more time. Maybe she would be able to perform another miracle. "Ok…" Hesitantly, she turned back towards him. "But I don't want to be used for any missions that do not include any profit! Work comes first." "You, Hidan and I will probably work in a team of three. And I am mostly put on missions that have a high possibility of bounties." He got up, closed the case and walked away from her. "Come on, the leader hates people who are late." And what about Hidan? He isn't here yet either!" Impatiently, he waved at her, realizing in the next moment that she couldn't see it. "You don't have to adjust your behavior just because I am blind. As I said, commands like waving also have to go through the brain so somehow I understand that you were trying to negate something. Only when you hide behind your walls completely… Then, I don't know what's going on and I can't feel you anymore either…" The last part was mumbled so quietly she hoped, he hadn't heard it. He pretended to not have heard anything. He didn't want her to know that these walls hurt himself as well. It was, however, the only way to get through his life . "Oh right, could you tell me where we are at all? After you successfully shut yourself out " Her voice had regained its confidence, "it was impossible for me to know where we are." Again, he had to smirk beneath his mask about her direct and barefaced behavior. Although he hadn't known her for that long, he sure had to think a lot about her. After all, he was actually getting to know her, almost as getting close to her. Hidan had been the last person who he had gotten to know and that had not even been voluntarily. They had to work in teams after all. "We are still in Takigakure but our direction is Suna. The biggest part of our trip will be through the desert before we reach the HQ." "Desert…" A little bit of disgust accompanied her voice. "Don't worry; we will be there in no time." She nodded. A small smile appeared on her face. Then, they started walking.


	4. Chapter 3

It was hot. Almost unbearable hot. Tiara had the suspicion that not only her blood but her whole body was dried out. And once again she saw herself confirmed in her aversion against the desert. Never had she spent more than half a day out here. After all, she did kind of value her life. Her senses were weakened and her mind exhausted from trying to picture her surroundings. It had been two days now since Kakuzu and she had entered the desert. He, on the other hand, seemed to not be exhausted or feel sickish at all, considering his energy pattern. But that was about all, she could feel on his side since he had gone back into his cocoon. Emptiness had spread inside her. More than usual. It seemed as if his loneliness had joined her own. 'Why is it that his feelings and memories are so intensive? Why are they so different?' Of course, no miraculous voice answered her. She had closed her eyes a long time ago and simply followed the vague energy field she constantly felt in front of her (which she assumed to be Kakuzu). Although she couldn't see to begin with, her eyes hurt because of the dryness and the flying grains of sand. She staggered more than actually walking. Suddenly bumped into somebody's back, lost her balance and landed on the rather soft but pretty soft ground. "Couldn't you have told me that you were about to stop?!" She snapped at him quietly. His hand reached for hers to pull her up. At the same moment, however, he must have decided differently and pulled his hand back. 'Wow, a real gentleman…' The fact that he wouldn't even touch her anymore hurt her a lot more than she had expected. Tediously, she stabilized her stand and straightened out her clothes. Her long, white cloak mostly hid her face to protect it from the burning sun. Her skin though would stay white either with protection or without. "We are almost there. Usually, I would have to blindfold you now but I doubt that this would change anything for you." A small, smirking tone betrayed his neutral face and behavior. As her throat didn't feel like it could produce any sort of sound, she simply nodded. For a short moment, she felt his eyes laying on her. Then he turned around and quickly walked on.

When they finally stepped inside of the cold cave and she could smell pure water for the first time in a few days, she took a deep breath and a relieving smile appeared on her face. The next moment, she noticed that there was no one around her. Not a sign of Kakuzu, neither his energy pattern nor anything else at all. Panic was still far away but senses were more than alarmed. An almost silent sound and then a brush of air. Automatically, her body moved into a defensive position. 'From the back!' The thought shot through her head. Quickly, she ducked and turned around to dodge the hit; successfully. While she held the hand of her still unknown enemy, he had grabbed hers. Nothing… There was nothing she could perceive. Only the brush of air had warned her from the attack. The next one came from below. Her attacker kneed her in the guts with the speed of lightning. Not even her high-grade fast reaction had been enough to avoid or dodge this attack. 'Sometimes you just have to have eye-contact with your enemy!' She noticed rather dryly. For a few seconds, her mind went blank from the impact and was filled with little stars. Only by concentrating on the fight, she was able to push away the dizziness and oncoming unconsciousness. Apparently, her opponent seemed to think that she was already beaten and the fight won because he loosened the grip around her wrist. 'Oh no, my friend, not so fast. This is far from over!' Pushing her hand down hardly, she freed herself completely from his grip and at the same moment her left foot shot up and met his neck. For a moment, the other one didn't move at all before he dissolved into thin air and all that was left was a little pebble. 'Great… a replacement jutsu…'"That didn't look anything like record performance to me. What have you really brought us here, Kakuzu?" The clear voice cut the through the hall like an ice blade. Immediately, she turned to the source. "First of all, he did not bring SOMETHING but somebody. And secondly, you shouldn't judge other people's abilities before testing them thoroughly." She replied instead of Kakuzu, stating her opinion. "No manners either. I really hope, Kakuzu, that you know just how much I hate to waste my time with bad jokes." While he was still talking, Tiara had already pulled out one of her most poisonous senbons and had thrown it without anybody noticing. Although she wasn't able to feel his presence, his voice was lead enough to her. She heard his quick sidestep in order to avoid the dangerous object. Nevertheless, she also noticed how close it had been, considering his knee-jerk reaction. Apparently, he had neither expected the senbon itself nor her accuracy. A content grin marked her face. "I didn't find this 'joke' as bad. I don't know, just stating my opinion." "BITCH PLEASE!" Hidan roared, laughing loud. "Nice one, sweety!" "As already said, her specialty is neither Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu but mainly her work with throwing weapons. Also, she is definitely Sensory-Unit." Kakuzu now entered the conversation himself. His words were followed by a short silence. By now, Tiara could feel the presence of 7 people, thanks to Hidan's wide-open thoughts. "Somebody with Sensory-abilities would be quite useful." The first thing she noticed after those words were Kakuzu's reaction and emotions. He seemed very surprised that Itachi (apparently THE Uchiha Itachi) had actually joined the conversation and even said something positive. Only then, she understood that she could feel Kakuzu again. Not only could she perceive a vague presence but he probably had really lowered his guard. 'I wonder if he did this on purpose?' The calm stream of his thoughts and feelings passed by her and relieved she absorbed everything without digging in too deep. He helped her forget about her own solitude although she had no idea how he did that. "She is right. Best thing will be to test her thoroughly." The Leader said with a voice without even the tiniest spark of emotion. Her discomposure had just gotten worse. That just didn't sound good. "Sasori, you get one hour." He added before pretending to leave the area. Maybe the other members really thought that but he couldn't deceive her. While the others apparently couldn't see him anymore, the young woman still felt his eyes fixated on her. Shortly, she let her senses wander to get a good understanding of her situation. 'Why should the doll freak get all the fun?! I wanted to fight her! Then the honey could have seen how incredibly powerful I am!' On the inside, she shook her head. 'Yeah right, Hidan, I really would have seen much… And I am not anybody's honey! How did you even come up with such a stupid idea?' Then, she decided to simply filter out the important information from his mind: Doll freak? Her opponent, Sasori, had already entered the arena. She had to admit that his energy pattern was quite weird and definitely not like the one of any human. 'A puppeteer is still a lot better than Uchiha Itachi or Kakuzu…' Taking a few deep breaths, she was astounded to notice that she didn't only feel her own but Kakuzu's stress as well. There was no time to ponder about that. The moment Sasori had entered the arena he had already began to prepare his first attack. He seemed to not be the waiting-type and preferred to end this useless fight in a lot less than an hour. Of course, he wouldn't be as open as Hidan but still inattentive enough to raise her chance to win.

Not even half an hour later, the two were facing each other. Their breaths were heavier and both, Tiara and Sasori seemed highly concentrated. She had closed her eyes since it was easier for her focus on her enemy's mind. Some of Sasori's smashed puppets decorated the arena, small parts lay in hundreds on the floor. Her white cloak had been torn to pieces and was barely draped around her. Her body was covered in nothing more than a pair of light blue shorts and a dark top. Again, Sasori prepared to summon more puppets. Since she was able to see the chackra threads before her inner eye and could hear some of his thoughts, it was fairly easy for her to dodge his attacks. Nevertheless, it was exhausting and she had already spent most of her weapons. While assessing the strength of the puppets, she quickly took out the matching script and summoned a giant axe. Using the two-hander as a distraction and attacking the puppets directly, the threads lay unprotected right in front of her. The axe smashed the puppet that was actually trying to dodge it. Without hesitating, she cut the chackra threads with her bare hands. Immediately, the puppet fell to the ground. She was aware that Sasori was losing the little bit of fun he had in this game. He probably knew that she had been able to prepare her defense for each and every attack he had started and that there was a lot more than just Sensory-unit. So he began his last and presumably strongest attack. Closely avoiding a direct hit, Tiara successfully separated the link between puppeteer and puppet. "Pain, I am done." Sasori meant with a completely steady breath. Before the last word had left his lips, he had already turned around and walked towards the exit. Confused Tiara stood in the middle of the arena and scanned her surroundings. 'Awesome, now I am standing here and nobody seems to care…' Her inner voice was dripping over and over with sarcasm. "Alright" Pain's voice echoed from far away. "It's worth a try." She tried to locate him by tracking his voice but the echoes from the great hall nullified her attempts. Suddenly, she felt Kakuzu flinch and the picture she involuntarily received from him explained it. Pain stood right in front of her. He had concealed all sounds, like breathing or clothes moving, with the echo of his voice and must have moved within an instant. And she couldn't see him… Immediately, she jumped backwards, knowing that he would follow her. While in the air, she ducked and slid her right leg like a scythe over the floor. As it hit resistance, it swiped it off the ground without stopping. This time she felt the approaching attacks. Pain had made the mistake of underestimating her chackra-abilities. On the inside she rejoiced as she successfully dodges all of his attacks. "Don't you think it's enough?" She asked Pain. Her posture was defensive. She didn't plan on attacking him herself; after all she had no reason to. "What? Are you already exhausted? You will have to train a lot harder from now on." He said sneeringly before turning around and really leaving the hall this time. Just in case, he decided to throw one last attack at her, she waited a moment before exhaling relieved. Her defensive stand relaxed. When suddenly Pain's voice sounded from out of nowhere, she flinched. "You will join Itachi's and Kisame's tam. Kisame, Itachi, bring her to the room and give her a cloak and a ring. No, wait… I will give her the ring." Kisame saluted jokingly and said military-like: "Yes, Sir!" His funny-fresh attitude had a calming effect on Tiara. According to Hidan's thoughts, Kisame sometimes was a total a******, a s** of a b**** and with his disgusting appearance (apparently like a shark) the biggest jerk of this organization. His voice didn't sound like that at all, though, and it was good that way. Nevertheless… somewhere deep down in her heart… she was a little disappointed. Kakuzu had said that they would probably be a team and would travel together. Well, that didn't really work out. She had already began to accept the fact as suddenly another wave of disappointment hit her and brought her down on her knees. As if it could ease the pain, her hand clenched over her heart. Tears came to her eyes. She fought with all her might to not cry right there and right now. The tears were swallowed and the heartache ignored. Slowly, she got up. The moment she lifted her head her face had regained a certain degree of neutrality. Involuntarily, however, her senses extended towards Kakuzu, knowing he must have been the one causing this wave. The disappointment had been as pure as the one of an innocent child and completely different from the slight impulse of disappointment from Hidan's side. That nudge had been mixed with dirty images and details she wanted to forget as quickly as possible. Her head turned to Kakuzu's direction and for the first time since long she wished for her vision to return. Most likely, his face would have been the incarnation of callousness. None of his feelings would be portrayed to the outside world. At that point, she took back her wish. Only she had the privilege to perceive his feelings in that way while others couldn't see anything else than his mask. A strong hand grabbed her shoulder. Immediately, she spun around and ducked to free herself of the firm grip. At the same time, her hand shot up straight, her fingers aimed at the attacker's wrist. Just in time, she noticed that the 'attacker' was nobody else than Kisame and stopped. Kisame exhaled his held breath and put his hands up as if he had been caught by the police. "Ok, you got me. I admit I ate the last pudding yesterday." Again, she had the feeling that she actually heard him grinning. Thanks to one of the members (probably Deidara) she also had a picture of what it looked like when a shark bared his teeth. A slight smile appeared on her face. "It's probably best for both sides if you don't touch me…" She added apologetically. Incomprehension radiated from Kisame. "She will have her reasons." Itachi stated simply. Nodding, Tiara silently thanked him. Then, she turned away from Kakuzu and followed the two through the gates of the big hall.


	5. Chapter 4

After having found a fitting cloak and a little tour to the shared rooms, Tiara went to Pain's office to get her ring. She had a hard time trusting the Leader. The safety of her secret was at stake after all. In her opinion, not all Akatsuki members had to know about her blindness, not ever. Knocking on the door, she entered. "You found a cloak." She nodded and asked quietly: "What do you want to know? You didn't have to hand me the ring yourself unless there is something else, am I right?" She felt Pain's eyes fixating on her. "What do YOU want here?" His question was rather simple, the answer wasn't. "How about we do this different? Actually, I only came here to have a higher chance on bounties. I suggest you tell me about the founding of Akatsuki." Her voice was calm and certain. "I see. You, too, are a bounty-hunter. That explains how Kakuzu and you got to know each other." He paused to examine her from head to toe. "This organization was founded to create peace in this world of war. This is what we strive for." Surprised, she lifted her eyebrow for a few moments. 'Pain wants peace for the world? And that is why most missions include killing someone. Riiiiiiight, totally understandable.' Her inner voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You might not be persuaded right now but in time you will understand my intentions perhaps. Yes, you could understand them." His eyes turned away from her and a slight relief took hold of Tiara. His look was sharp and gave her the feeling of being completely naked in front of him. There were few things, she hated more than that. "Coming to the last question." She listened up. "How does a blind woman become a bounty-hunter?" She held her breath. So, he knew. Of course, he knew… How could she even expect that with all his attacks he still wouldn't have noticed? Maybe, she shouldn't have been walking and talking big about thoroughly testing somebody else's abilities. 'Well… now it's too late anyway. As long as it's only him…' And Kakuzu, she added silently. "Why shouldn't I be? What keeps me from being a hunter?" She challenged him. "I don't know about you but what about the fact that you cannot see your victims? The only thing you apparently perceive is their energy pattern. What if you by any chance mistake it for somebody else's? You would be killing innocent people." "Few people nowadays are completely innocent." The phrase left her mouth like a bullet leaves its pistol. "Of course, it wouldn't be good to take the life of innocent people. That is why I prefer to check more than one time that it is the right person, using more than just their energy pattern. And so far, I have not made any mistakes." She stated clearly. "And those methods would be?" Now, the conversation was going exactly into the direction Pain had wanted it to. Hesitantly, she answered the question. "The chackra-type of each creature is, as you probably know, different. There is no chackra like another. Then, the energy pattern as said. As for the last method, I am able to deduce the person's identity by surrounding passengers or by the target itself." Silence. Pain seemed to ponder about the just heard information. "Thoughts… Which clan are you from?" Shaking her head, she responded: "This is no Kekkai Genkai, Pain. After I lost my vision completely I had to strengthen this ability and my senses if I wanted to survive. If you lose a sense as important to the human as vision, you have to focus on your other senses to compensate for the loss of that sense. There are probably less than five people with abilities comparable to mine, if at all. Every body and every mind deals differently with a loss like that. My I leave now?" No answer. After a few minutes, Pain handed her the ring, still completely absorbed in his thoughts. A waving hand signaled her to leave the room. Quietly, she closed the door and went back to Itachi's and Kisame's room, drifting into her own thoughts.

Alone, she ran through the barely lightened hallways. Why does it all look the same? Why didn't she get any closer to the spot of light at the end of the tunnel? Was it her imagination? An ice cold breeze made her shiver. Each door, she had passed, was locked and nothing in the hallway could protect her from the biting wind. Now, it even started raining out of all things. Like sharp needles the rain drops pierced her skin. Eventually, one of the doors opened. Immediately, she pushed her rather fragile body through the small opening and shut the door right behind her. Being finally out of the icy rain, she noticed that her face was not only wet by the rain but also by her own tears. She sank down to the floor, her body shivering uncontrollably. Suddenly, something warm was put around her. Her fear and the cold yielded and she could finally relax and sink into the warm feeling of security.

Sleepy, she sat up. 'What a weird dream… Probably because of the change of location.' Eventually, she decided to not get up yet and snuggled back into the soft blanket. "This is not how this works, honey. I wanted to go back to sleep, too, but this money-loving son of a bitch pushed me out of bed! And we have to leave soon anyway. Officially, you might not be in our team but I vote for you to accompany us today. When you are there, I can do as I please because the old man is occupied with babysitting you." She blinked a few times. Of course, that didn't change much about the darkness surrounding her but she had gotten used to that a long time before her vision loss. Why was Hidan in her room? Her senses had woken up, too, by now and clearly showed Hidan's energy pattern about 3 meters in front of her. In the corner, she could perceive slight impulses from Kakuzu's chackra. Why was Kakuzu in her room? "Why are you guys in my room?" It took a few seconds before Hidan started laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach. "Why us? You are the…" He had to pause to gasp for air. "You are the intruder. And on top it was the middle of the night! And I was sleeping so well!" Kakuzu interrupted him. "Don't pretend that you woke up when she entered the room. You were sleeping safe and sound like a little baby and didn't notice until morning that she came to our room." By now, Tiara was more than confused. Why the hell was she in Hidan's and Kakuzu's room?! What was she doing here? "Hidan, go to the office and get the necessary information for our mission. We meet in 20 minutes at the gates." Kakuzu made obvious that he wouldn't accept any resistance and surprisingly Hidan didn't even try to protest and instead left the room rather quickly. "Ok, somebody please explain this to me. I have no idea how this could have happened." Not only was this embarrassing but also more than abstract to the young woman. "There is not much to explain. It was in the middle of the night and you suddenly opened our door forcefully, stumbled inside and cowered down on the ground. You wouldn't react to anything I said, not until I gave you a blanket because you were shivering like crazy. Not even a minute later, you lay in my bed, snuggling into the blanket. That's it." Her brain tried to work this bizarre situation out. The only thing that came out of her mouth was: "I am so sorry. It will never happen again!" In the same moment, she escaped the room and ran back to Itachi's and Kisame's room. Fortunately, both were out at the moment. That way she could throw herself onto her bed and bury her face into her pillow. Then, she was enlightened. The dream! It hadn't been a dream, instead at least half of it had apparently been reality! Oh my God… Right now, she would just love to disappear into the ground and not come back. Embarrassing didn't even scratch the amount of her shame… Why did weird things like that happen to her? Then, another memory hit her. Back then, when she met that man in the night of the new moon at the clearing. That was impossible. Coincidences might happen once in a while but that was definitely too much. Would she be able to ever show herself in front of Kakuzu again? Well done… She heard the door knob turn as the door opened and pretended to be asleep, hoping to avoid any conversation. Carefully, she listened to each and every sound the person made. A surprised gasp almost escaped her lips as the person sat down on her bed. "It's quite obvious that you are not sleeping." The sound of Kakuzu's voice felt like a soft stroke on her skin. "Who said I was pretending to be asleep?" She replied defiant. "So, you didn't have the intention to just lay there, motionless, and were hoping to avoid conversation that way?" Her upper body turned towards him. "Hey, mind-reading is my job so stop that." 'What am I doing here?' She asked herself silently while shaking her head on the inside. 'I am acting like a little child… I am sure he'll find that very attractive…. Waaaaaaiiit! This is not about him finding me attractive!' Again she shook her head. "Why are you shaking your head?" Immediately, she stopped. Although the first time, it had been imaginary, she must have actually shaken her head the second time… Involuntarily, her lips formed her sulking face and she quickly hid beneath the blanket. Kakuzu rolled his eyes. How old was she again? Five? Only then did he notice that he actually didn't know her exact age. Or where she came from. Or what happened to her family. Or why she was blind in the first place. Maybe it was even curable. Somehow, it began to bother him that he didn't know anything about her. Why? No clue. This time, it was him who shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. "What are you thinking about?" The blanket was subduing her voice and it sounded a little darker than usual. "I thought mind-reading was your job?" On the inside, he grinned triumphant. "You know exactly that I can never be sure with you and Pain!" She had a hard time admitting the limit of her abilities. "But whatever it is, it sure bothers you. Not only your radiation is a mess but your chackra is flickering pretty badly." She grinned, knowing how much he hated it when other people knew about his feelings. Although, she most likely was the only one knowing that. "Well, perhaps I prefer you not being able to read my thoughts. There are a few things that are none of your business after all. Thoughts and emotions usually are considered a part of those few things." 'Ouch, that hurt… After all, it's not like want to read people's thoughts… Actually, I would sometimes prefer to not know what they think…' Since she couldn't come up with a good reply, she decided to shut her cakehole. "I want to try something. Give me your hand." Her eyes widened. Immediately, she remembered the situation when they had touched each other for the first time. That time, it had been her who asked him the same question. Not even five heartbeats later, she wriggled her hand out of the blanket and held it out to him. 'So fast?' Kakuzu was astounded that she didn't question his words and apparently hadn't thought too much about it either. Slowly, he moved his hand closer to hers. It was hard to believe that he had just asked her directly without rephrasing it or anything like that… Although his head was pretty much against this and was telling him how ridiculous this was, his heart and his subconscious had taken control now. Gently, his fingers made contact with her palm. Then, her hand closed around his. Once again, she didn't have to face the giant wave like the first time. But it was also different from the last time. The emotions seemed to approach very carefully this time. While she didn't want to wait any longer, he tried to do this as cool and controlled as possible. At the first contact of their feelings, however, his control completely dissolved into nothingness. Just like the first time, she suddenly faced a wave of emotions. Instead of letting herself get crushed by it though, Tiara approached it with a warm and open heart.

As she opened her eyes, she had no idea how much time had passed. A little exhausted but feeling calm and happy on the inside, she sat up and stretched to her heart's content. Then, she let her senses wander through the room and found… nothing… absolutely nothing and nobody. What had she expected? That he would be there, waiting for her to wake up? A sarcastic snort escaped her. 'Yeah, right. Just because he asked you to take some of his pain and burden, you think he'll be thanking you for eternity? Honey, I think you got the wrong guy…' A sad smile appeared on her face as her heart finally realized the defeat. After getting up and quickly straightening her hair, she left the room as fast as she could. Fresh air would help her clear her head. Arriving outside, she inhaled deeply. Compared to those maze-like tunnels, she preferred nature a lot more; although, the tunnels actually might be easier for her than for anybody else who was able to see. With closed eyes, she walked through the forest. Involuntarily, her senses lead her into the direction of splashing water. Carefully, he hands searched for the little waterfall. Delight lit her face, as her fingers touched the cool element. Thoroughly, she washed any dirt and memories off her hands. During that procedure, her mind began to realize what her heart had already decided a few minutes ago: She would go back to travelling alone. It just wasn't like her to wander in groups and always be in contact with other people. And since she had met Kakuzu, things had been more turbulent and disturbing than before. Relief overcame her and she started running. Where to? No idea. Main point was: away from there. Abruptly, she stopped as she felt somebody standing about ten meters in front of her. "What do you want?" "That's what I was about to ask you. Aren't you supposed to be in the HQ?" Pain asked, critique lacing in his voice. "I cannot be a member of Akatsuki." It didn't really surprise her how easy those words left her lips. "And you have known that from the very start, am I right? That is probably the reason why you hesitated to let me join, isn't it?" His radiation confirmed her suspicion. "Usually, I would have to kill you now. But something keeps me from doing so. You will serve a purpose in the future and that is why I will let you go." She nodded in agreement, having the same shady feeling. Then, she accelerated and passed him like a breeze of the wind.


	6. Chapter 5

Days passed. Then days became weeks and weeks became months. Soon, a year had gone by; then two. There had been no night, however, that she didn't unconsciously seek for the fusion of their thoughts. At the end of the first year, that unconscious desire became normal and she pushed away the background of that feeling and simply accepted it. Her work regained the status of her biggest passion. And she slaved away like crazy, collecting one bounty after another. Then and again, she captured a high-rated criminal on behalf of the Villages and got paid a little sum by the officials. Every village knew of her status as renowned bounty-hunter. Unlike most bounty-hunters though, she enjoyed a certain special treatment. Since she often worked on behalf of the Villages, there were few people suicidal enough to target her. That way, she had the freedom to relax once in a while without being on the run the whole time. She couldn't remember the last time life had been this good to her. Often, she visited her parents and sensed her mother crying in front of the graves of her two children. Sometimes, she couldn't bear the pain her mother had to endure; especially, considering the fact, that all of this drama could have been avoided. The day, she decided to finally plan revenge, she left a single flower on the graves.

It almost took her two weeks, to locate her targets' whereabouts. In order to stay hidden, they changed camps, taking complex routes with high speed. This night, however, they would stay because they called in a meeting. One after another, people kept coming in, waiting around a campfire. Guards were standing with a distance of less than 10 meters around the group and the others held their position in the tree tops. Thanks to her research, she was certain that they hadn't found a replacement for her yet und thus were still without sensory-type. Meaning, Tiara had the advantage, for now. She didn't like having to wait until all the members finally assembled. However, it was the only way to make sure that nobody was missing when she got her revenge. Every movement, every step, every attack had to be exact. There was no room for mistakes. After all, this was the first time that she had to face that many enemies on her own. Well, generally she always had to face her opponents alone but not against so many at the same time. Extending her senses and thus enlarging her monitored radius, she felt a first tight pull on her temples. But no matter how much it would ache or strain her abilities, she could absolutely not allow her mind to relax her attention. After all, her life was at stake. Abruptly, her head turned 90° to her right. In that direction, the last member had just entered her area. So, the show was to start soon. The men and women beneath her assembled and formed a circle around the large campfire. 'Pretty reckless to make a large fire like this. Even for them, this is a new level of stupidity… and much too risky.' Tiara thought. Suspicion rose in her. One of the men started talking. Since Tiara was too far away, she only caught fragments of the said. Apparently, they were discussing another raid on one of the trading caravans. The young woman followed the conversation only with one of her ears because the details didn't interest her anyway. She preferred to go through her attack step by step once again; it was elaborate and complex enough. Calmly inhaling and exhaling, she concentrated on her inner chi and prepared her mind for battle, leaving it crystal-clear and sharp like a knife. Her muscles tensed, ready to make the first jump forward. In that very same moment, a person ran onto the clearing. Loudly roaring, he swung his scythe and beheaded just with his first swing six people. The herd of men and women scattered like startled deer. Quick-witted, everybody pulled out a weapon and took on a defensive stance to face the unknown attacker. He, however, laughed. 'This chackra… It can't be!' Tiara used the general excitement and quietly approached the group until she sat in a tree right above the clearing; still invisible for the eyes of the others. "Who are you?" One of the men asked, most likely their leader. "You want to know who I am?!" Hidan shouted his voice almost hysterical. Probably, he was already so excited about the massacre he would cause that he wasn't able to control his voice anymore. "You should be honored! You shall serve me as victims for Jashin-sama! Oh, this will be an amazing bloodbath and oh, the pain will be extraordinary!" 'Of course…' Tiara could only shake her head. Then a sudden thought hit her. If Hidan was here that meant that Kakuzu couldn't be far either. Hidan alone would have never been able to stay undetected from her for so long. Kakuzu must have found a trick to hide his and Hidan's chackra. Kakuzu… Just thinking of him made her heart beat a little faster for a few seconds. Then she realized that she couldn't see him, couldn't feel him again. It had been incredible hard for her to just disappear back then. At that time, she had wanted to stay at his side. But that hadn't been possible. To him, she was nothing more than a depot where he could drop his burden and then leave again. It had cost her a full year to get over the feeling of their closeness. She doubted that it would be easier for her the second time. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, something refused inside of her. This was to be her revenge. She couldn't just accept somebody taking it away from her. Just because of that group of wretched people down there, she had not only lost her sight but also her brother in the end! It was her right and neither Hidan nor Kakuzu could take that away from her! Determined, she focused on the clearing and noticed that Kakuzu still hadn't shown himself. Jumping down from her branch she landed light-footed directly in front of Hidan. Fuck the nice plan… Quickly, she scanned her surroundings and noticed that the guards were alarmed but stayed on their posts in the trees, not yet revealing themselves. Of course, Tiara, and Kakuzu probably, too, had felt their presence the whole time but if they really wanted to watch their colleagues die, Tiara would be the last person to be in their way. Surprisingly, Hidan didn't even curse as she landed in front of him, instead he seemed to grin. The leader, however, seemed to have trouble recognizing her. 'I guess I have to help out.' "Long time no see, Shiro. Rumors have it that you still haven't found a replacement for me." She said mockingly. The chackra of the man standing opposite to her became restless. "This can't be! After you lost your vision, you were easy prey for all the other bounty-hunters. You should be long dead!" "Ouch, that really hurt my feelings. Just because I am blind doesn't mean I let myself be caught the next day and drop dead to the ground. If you had been a little more aware, you might have noticed that my relation to the other hunters and the villages has always been very balanced and I have never been hunted by either side. But then again, you have always been very reckless. Additionally, it was very unwise of you to not look for a replacement. If you had, you wouldn't be in this definitely deadly situation…" "Wait a sec, little one!" Hidan interrupted her, slightly outraged. "They are mine! It has been almost a week since my last offering to Jashin. All because of that stupid, old jerk, who dragged me everywhere with him! To each and every of those stupid exchange offices!" Quickly, Tiara decided. "Don't worry, Hidan. I only take what I deserve. Leave me the man, who talked to us and the woman right behind him. You can have the rest. Do with them as you please." Satisfied, Hidan nodded and ruffled through her hair. "I like you, little one." 'Someday, I will teach him my name thoroughly. I am not that small!' Tiara thought, allowed his ruffling however. Hidan could be very exhausting at times but all in all he was ok. "Unfortunately, we cannot have that." By the sound of his voice, Tiara's heart stopped for a moment. Kakuzu emerged from the shadow of a tree. He really had been able to stay hidden from her senses for the whole time. "The leader and his wife are the heads we need after all." "So what!" Hidan snapped right back at him. "I've had enough of your ongoing blabla 'We have to go there' or "We need the head of him and him'! You are annoying as hell! And that for way too long now! It's been irritating with you before but at the moment I would rather have Tobi and Deidara as partners!" Now that was a hell of an insult. There was nobody, Hidan hated more than Tobi and Deidara. "I want my blood bath! And when Tiara says she wants those two for herself, then she shall have them! I don't care! There's enough left for everyone so just fuck off!" Hidan even defended her now. That certainly was a first. Surprised, she noticed that Kakuzu actually seemed concerned. His chackra showed an inner anxiety that he definitely wouldn't have shown before. His whole posture was tense, even more than usually, and stiff. Without glancing back at Kakuzu even once, Hidan turned back to his sacrifices and smirked. Tiara hadn't been able to turn towards Kakuzu in the first place. Although she couldn't see him anyway, she still didn't want to know his reaction if she had turned to look at him. 'Would he have shown any kind of reaction at all?' Her subconscious asked quietly. Her inner fight confused her. On one hand, Kakuzu was still very important to her but considering the sad truth that she would have to leave him again anyway, she would rather not get too close to him. On the other hand, she was facing the people, who had basically killed her family, torn them apart, and who thus destroyed her life as well. Reason triumphed over her heart and she concentrated on the opponents in front of her with the intention of ending their wretched lives. "If you had been cleverer, you would have used this opportunity to run as fast as you can as far away as possible." Her voice was determined and dangerously calm. "But apparently, you didn't gain any intelligence at all." Kakuzu stepped forward with the intention of intervening. "Stay away!" The words escaped her lips a little louder than intended. Hesitantly, Kakuzu stopped. "This is my revenge! You can have their bounties afterwards if you want. I don't care about that! But don't you dare to interrupt me before!" Her heart beat unpleasantly hard in her chest. With difficulty, she swallowed her sudden anxiety to regain her firm voice. "Please" She added almost without a sound. The last word had been whispered but Kakuzu had probably heard it as well. He stood there like rooted into the ground and apparently with no intention of moving. In the same moment as Tiara exhaled relieved her two bounties started their attack. They seemed to have chosen the motto 'attack is the better defense'. 'Bad idea…' Without a problem, Tiara dodged the first two Taijutsu attacks and rounded her movement off by finishing it with a three-part kick combi. While she paid full attention to the two attacking her, Hidan was enjoying himself to the fullest by intimidating the ones surrounding him and then killing them off one by one. After a few minutes, Kakuzu said impatiently: "Stop playing games and finish them off. We don't have all day after all, Tiara." At first, she thought he had been complaining about Hidan. Then, however, he had said her name for the very first time. The fact that he had only mentioned it to express how much she apparently irritated him, made it hurt so much more. "The party just got started!" Hidan yelled in excitement, completely ignoring Kakuzu's earlier complaint. Whilst dodging another blow to her chest, Tiara shot the immortal a thankful smile. As she was about to counter, a sudden rush of anger hit her. For a moment, she lost her concentration. Although she felt the kunai flying towards her, her body would not move. In slow motion, she was finally able to turn sideways. She felt the cold iron cutting into the side of her throat. Had she not moved, it would have gone right through her carotid artery and she could have forgotten about revenge. Now, her own anger became untamable. Snorting, she turned to face Kakuzu. The sudden rush of anger earlier had to have come from him. "Listen closely, now!" She was interrupted by another set of punches which she blocked efficiently. "This is my fight. It is my revenge. So keep the hell out of it! And if you happen to have a problem with that, turn around and leave this very instant! I am quite sure that Hidan will be able to find you in case he wanted to." It seemed that confusion was written over Kakuzu's face. His answer was cold as ice. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I have no intention of interfering with this fight. Why would I get my hands dirty? You and Hidan are already doing the dirty stuff. Oh wait, unless you plan to run away again, just like last time when you disappeared without a trace and a good-bye!" The hard accusation in his voice triggered goose bumps on her skin. It did not, however, diminish her anger. Quite the opposite. Her hands clenched to fists as she stood before him with a threatening aura. "So now it's my fault?! Who left first back then, ha? Who just left me lying there without an explanation and no comment?! Admit it! The only thing you were bothered by was the fact that you had nobody to shove your burden off to! Well, I have my own problems!" Kakuzu actually seemed speechless. The moment he was about to shout a reply, their two bounties prepared to launch an attack. 'Oh, almost forgot about them…' "You think you can just ignore us like that?! Ha, Tiara, this will finally be your death!" Simultaneous, Tiara and Kakuzu yelled irritated: "Shut up! We're having a conversation!" In the same moment, Tiara pulled out two kunais. Sinking to the ground, she avoided their attack, which had been headed for her face. By setting one foot forward, she positioned herself right beneath her now defenseless attackers. Merciless, she pushed herself up and shoved the kunais through their mouths into their brains. The bodies tired and for a few seconds there was silence. After one last look at the corpses of her former tormentor, she pulled the kunais out and turned around. Quietly, she said: "Satisfied now, Kakuzu?" All the anger had suddenly vanished and left her tired and empty. She wanted nothing more than to get out of there. Her lashing out in anger and losing control in front of him earlier embarrassed her now. Without another word, she turned and ran towards the forest. In less than a few seconds, she disappeared into the darkness.


	7. Chapter 6 (Final)

"Well, what are you waiting for, old geezer?" Hidan's voice sounded. He had finished his massacre earlier and now lay impaled in the center of his ritual circle. "I have no idea what you are talking about." Kakuzu replied emotionless and turned to walk off in the opposite direction. "Hey asshole, if you don't hurry, you won't catch up to her. She's quite fast." Hidan yelled after him. "And why on earth would I want to run after her?" The bounty hunter asked without turning around. "You don't usually let your target get away. And she already escaped twice. Not like you at all, man. It almost seems to me that you are afraid of being near her." The Jashinist teased. Immediately, Kakuzu came to a halt. Without a comment, he turned around and passed Hidan with god-speed, running after Tiara into the darkness. Hidan gurgled amused. 'Oh well, Kakuzu is just a man like any other. And that little one really seems to bother him. Hopefully, he will be less annoying with her around.' Grinning he continued with his ritual.

Branches and leafs flew by her. It almost seemed as if the devil himself was hunting her, so fast was she racing through the woods. Unfortunately, her senses were not able to hold up a hundred percent with her speed, which is why she had to do some very close avoiding maneuvers. Warm blood ran down from the wound on her throat and over her décolleté. Involuntarily, her hand wandered to the cut. 'Damn it, it's deeper than it appeared at first.' In the very moment as she felt his chackra behind her, Kakuzu grabbed her hand and pulled her around abruptly. His handle seemed to be of steel. Thus, her efforts to break free were meaningless. "Let go!" She hissed immediately. No reaction. Although she had no problem sensing his presence in front of her, she could neither get a peek at his emotions nor his thoughts. Meaning, she was completely in the dark. It annoyed her to have no clue about his state of mind. Back then, she had been naïve enough to think he might actually feel something like affection and warmth towards her. 'Stupid! I was nothing but credulous and desperate!' She rebuked herself. The longer she was close to him, the harder it would be to get back into her every day schedule without him. Determined, she put more power into her attempts to break free. She was surprised to feel her hands slipping through his handle. Not even wasting another heartbeat, she turned away to run and to put as much distance between Kakuzu and herself as possible. "Tiara!" Even before she was able to really accelerate, his right hand caught her left upper arm and again turned her towards him. Right off, his left hand went up to dodge her right, which was ready to punch. Too late. Without slowing down, her hand buzzed sideways and hit his cheek. The loud slapping sound echoed in the dark of the woods. "Just leave me alone! Why can't you understand?" Kakuzu's confusion reached her effortlessly. His walls seemed to have been broken down by his confusion about her slapping him. Now, a huge wave of emotions threatened to bury her beneath it. Her knees gave in beneath the sudden burden. It was only thanks to Kakuzu's tight grip that she didn't fall to the ground. "I can't… not like this…" Desperation and exhaustion strained her voice. "What is it that you can't do? You have to talk to me." Kakuzu said urgently. "After all, mind reading is your job." He added quietly smiling. His attempt to calm her worked and slowly she regained control over the intruding emotions and thoughts. Although her legs were steady now, Kakuzu wouldn't let her go. With a little difficulty, she calmed her mind and tried to make her voice sound reasonable and neutral. "This wave of emotion… Yours is the only one with such intensity. As soon as you are angry and your walls are, unlike usually, down, all of that fury reaches me although we have no body contact. Only with you… I share this kind of attachment only with you." Quickly, she corrected herself. "I shared!" Kakuzu seemed to have lifted an eyebrow at the sound of her stubborn voice. "Past tense?" Involuntarily, she tried to wind herself to once again break free. "It took me one year to get over it and a few more months to get back to my daily routine, so don't you dare to give me that attitude! Just let me go! You got rid of your burden and that's it. You can leave now, just like last time." She added bitterly. She hated herself for sounding so hurt and weak. The last thing she wanted was to give him another reason to think of her as an even more ridiculous person. That, however, was exactly what she had just done by revealing to him just how much it hurt to see him. Suddenly, he grabbed both her shoulders and shook her. "What are you talking about?! You think I chased you simply to get rid of my burden? I do not need something like that." He seemed to believe that she thought of his hidden und suppressed feelings as a weakness. How was it possible to misunderstand one another to such an extent? Instinctively, she put her hand on his cheek and granted him an insight at her feelings. Her mind kept complaining that she was just as stupid as before if she believed he would see her any different. Pushing those thoughts aside, she enjoyed the warm feeling, which spread in her. It was the first time that she revealed her feelings and thoughts like this to somebody else. She hadn't been sure that it would work at all. Kakuzu was totally overwhelmed. The feelings which suddenly wrapped around his heart were so warm and gentle. It took him a few heartbeats to understand that they were Tiara's. But then, his heart clenched frantically as he felt the pain and loneliness which had ate her up inside as she had decided against her heart and left. She had believed to be nothing more than a depot for him. 'How absurd! As if I had talked to her, would that have been the case!' He thought. But how would she have known any better, his subconscious whispered back. Regret started to pound through his veins as he understood that she only left because of him. The thought of being nothing but a depot to him had hurt her to such extent. "Only you…" Her whispering voice got through to him. "The others didn't matter to me, only you. Since the time I first met you, back then on the clearing, I knew you were different." Clearing? A picture of a clearing appeared before his inner eye. It had been a night of new moon but despite the darkness the picture was clearly visible to him. Then he remembered. A few details changed in the picture and it became darker. 'Sorry, details aren't really my thing but at least my light was far better, don't you think?' A comforting smile wrapped around him. Again the picture became clearer and brighter. Back then, he hadn't been able to get a good look at the young woman and her sudden appearance had almost frightened him (although he would never admit that). He had been so deeply absorbed in his thoughts and memories that he had been oblivious to his surroundings. By now, both of her hands rested on his face while his hand had wandered to her back. Carefully, her hands palpated over his face to create her own picture of the man before her. Smiling, her hands moved over his mask and slowly pulled it down. As her soft fingers moved over his lips, he shook inwards. Suddenly, he became restless. After all, she didn't know that he had already lived a few lives thanks to his technique. How would she react… He had seen far more years than she. A giggle tore him from his thoughts. "Don't worry, Kakuzu, I am not that superficial. I already know that you are older than me." Almost admiring, he looked at the young woman standing before him. Her body looked so fragile and the fact that she was blind strengthened that image. But he knew better; He should know better. He had seen her fight, knew of her precision with weapons and her strong character. 'Anyone, who is even a little weaker than her, would not have dealt with his loss of vision as well as she did.' He thought satisfied, knowing that he could rely on his woman in any battle. 'Your woman?' Astonished, he noticed that she blushed and slightly turned her head, which was a habit rather than a necessity. Slowly, she pulled back her hands and the very moment they no longer touched his skin he wished for their warmth. His hand grabbed hers gently frightened she might pull back completely from him. "Isn't it me who should be afraid of that?" She whispered, her voice sounding hoarse. "Everytime you hid behind your walls… it… I… I was so lonely…" "I can't promise you to never do that again." He said honestly. It hurt him to see her in pain but he couldn't lie to her. Not now, when he had finally found her. The last two years, he had tried to catch up to her- in vain. He had dragged Hidan to every bounty office, they had passed by on their missions, hoping to find out some news about her. But everytime he was close to finding her, he had pulled back. His (stupid) ego had kept him from running to her like a junkie, who needed his drug. That seemed like a fitting description. She was his drug. Only used once but immediately addicted to it. However, it was not only the sharing of his emotions; that's what he had thought at first. It was her natural behavior and her way of treating people. Not only her unabashed behavior towards him but also her way of dealing with problems. She was strong in body and in mind, stood her ground and despite her blindness she could keep up (almost perfectly) against the other members. How could he have ever let her go? "And I know that I can't ask that of you." She said quietly. Her voice pulled him back to reality and he quickly remembered what they had been talking about. "I will have to put up my walls. That is the only way to protect myself from enemies." Silence. It took him a lot of overcoming to put even a fraction of his feelings into words. Words have never been his thing and expressing his feelings even less. "I didn't know what to do back then. After you fell asleep, I stayed by your side for a few more minutes but Hidan and I were assigned a mission. I didn't want to wake you. You didn't get much sleep the night before anyway because of the nightmare. And you looked so peaceful… Whatever…" Before he could continue, Tiara interrupted. "You could have at least left a note! I had no idea what was going on with you! How could I have known that I was important to you? I can't smell it after all!" "As I said before, mind reading is YOUR job!" His voice got louder. "And what was I supposed to write? What if one of the others had gotten their hands on that note? Had you stayed and not run away, we might have had the opportunity of a conversation. But you didn't want to wait and instead formed your own opinion…" Again she interrupted. "You could have written where you and Hidan were off to and how long it would take you. Then maybe, I would have waited. But you have hidden behind your walls far too many times for me to figure your feelings out! For example, on our way to the HQ when we were walking through the desert!" Defiant, she turned away and walked a few steps. She didn't want to argue with him, especially because she knew that he was right. Had she not escaped right away without giving him a chance, she might have saved herself the last two years of agony. How could she have been so weak? Remorsefully, she walked towards him. He had not moved an inch and seemed to watch her closely. As she approached him, he turned around. 'Is he a child!?' She thought, irritated from his inappropriate behavior. Her anger vanished even faster than it appeared. 'It is after all my fault.' She lifted her hand and her fingers stroke gently over his back. Despite his cloak and the clothes beneath she could feel his muscles. There also seemed to be something like masks. Kakuzu showed no reaction and kept completely still. Eventually, she decided to screw her rational mind and put her arms around his waist. Her forehead rested against his back and the continuous heartbeat she felt calmed her. "I am sorry" She murmured into his cloak. As his hands gently joined hers, a wave of relief went through her. His feelings and thoughts danced around her and she pleasantly cuddled closer to him. Suddenly, without a warning, he turned around in her embrace, took her face in his hands and put his lips on hers. Surprised by his sudden action her hands slid off his waist, just to join again around his neck. A cozy sigh escaped both of them. The warmth of Tiara's body seemed to be enough for both of them. Kakuzu still had trouble believing that miracle, which was happening to him. He, who had already survived so many human lives, who had already given up on his human emotions, was now granted feelings, he had never even dreamed of. Thinking again of the comparison to a junkie and his drug, he grinned. Tiara, as well, grinned, having understood his path of thoughts. Eventually, he reluctantly pulled back from her sensual lips. "So, I am your drug?" Innocently, he shrugged. "Not my fault, you are highly addictive." Not ready to give up on her warmth, yet, he pulled her closer again. "But only with you. After all, I, too, am a junkie." She meant mischievously. Only then they noticed the blood on their hands and Tiara quickly covered her neck cut. "We should cover up the wound and then get back to Hidan." The young woman said and pulled out a piece of cloth from one of her bags. Kakuzu took it and bandaged it. Then his hand touched her face one more time. "So, you're not going to run away again?" Playfully, she punched his side. "How could I… now, that my addiction has returned." "When I put up my walls…" She felt his apology before he said it out loud. "When you put up your walls, we will have to learn some control, don't you think so, too, junkie?" Her smile triggered a pleasant tickle, which coursed through his body. With pride he looked at the woman next to him and knew instantly that his life would be a lot more interesting from now on. "I totally agree, junkie." He replied, taking her hand into his to enjoy the last moments with just the two of them before returning to Hidan. No sum of money on earth would bring him to let her leave again…


End file.
